Author: Barbara

Once you know that you are pregnant, it is important that you begin to special care of yourself, in order to ensure that you and your baby will stay as healthy as possible. Taking care during pregnancy can help you to cope physically and emotionally during this time and can increase your chances of having a healthy and happy baby. The first step to taking care during pregnancy is to arrange good prenatal care. As soon as you find out that you are pregnant, you should begin to arrange prenatal medical care. Medical experts will help to provide you with ... Read more

Women who are in the early stages of pregnancy will usually begin to display some symptoms, however every woman’s body is different, so you may notice all of the main pregnancy symptoms, or you may only notice a few of them. Some women report that they have not experienced any of the symptoms at all! Below are some of the main pregnancy symptoms. The symptom which alerts most women to the fact that they may be pregnant is a missed period. However, some pregnant women will still have a very light period, albeit with a decreased blood flow. If this ... Read more

When you are pregnant, it is essential that you exercise properly, in order to keep your body as fit and supple as possible. Appropriate exercises for pregnant women will help you to strengthen your core muscles and will make it easier for you to get back in shape after you have had your baby. Not only will strengthening these muscles help you to cope with all of the extra weight that you are carrying with you, but it can also help you during childbirth. Whilst some exercises are positively recommended during pregnancy, some specific exercises should be avoided, as they ... Read more

Holding a newborn baby can be a wonderful feeling, especially if it is your own child, who you have been nurturing inside you for around nine months. If this is your first baby, you may not know what to expect and you may have had no practice in newborn baby care. Although every baby is different, most of them will not do much more than eat, sleep and cry for the first few months, giving you plenty of time to learn the ropes. When you have a baby, you will have to make a choice between breastfeeding, bottle feeding or ... Read more

When you are pregnant, the nutritional needs of your body will change, because the baby that is growing inside of you will also be taking their nutritional needs from you. Controlling nutrition during pregnancy is therefore very important. Whilst you can get prenatal supplements from pharmacies, you should discuss these with your prenatal care provider before you start taking them, and only take them as instructed if you do. It is also possible to control nutrition during pregnancy by maintaining a balanced and healthy diet. Absorbing enough folic acid is one of the most important parts of nutrition during pregnancy, ... Read more

Postnatal depression is often talked about in the press, and pregnant women are taught that depression after the birth of their baby is something that is perfectly normal reaction for many women. However, depression during pregnancy (antenatal depression) is less frequently discussed, even though it occurs in roughly one in ten pregnant women. Although medical experts previously believed that pregnancy hormones were also “happy hormones” and that postnatal depression may happen once these hormone levels dropped, they now believe that the rapid increase in these hormone levels can also disrupt the brain chemistry and lead to the onset of depression ... Read more

One of the more unpleasant and uncomfortable side effects which can occur during pregnancy is constipation. Around 40 per cent of pregnant women will experience notable constipation at some point during their pregnancy. There are a number of factors which can connect pregnancy and constipation such as the iron tablets which some women take to combat anaemia, which can cause constipation; the growing uterus, which can put pressure on the rectum or the pregnancy hormone progesterone, which may also slow down the progression of food through the digestive tracts. Luckily, pregnancy and constipation do not always go hand in hand. ... Read more

When you are pregnant, you will receive a lot of different pieces of advice about what you can and cannot eat or drink during pregnancy. In fact, different schools of medical thought offer different advice on what you should and shouldn’t consume during the period of your pregnancy. One of the products which have been disputed by medical professionals is whether women should drink coffee while pregnant. Some doctors have actually speculated that cutting out caffeine altogether could actually have a negative effect on an unborn child as well, because the body’s cravings for caffeine could induce unhealthy stress and ... Read more

If you are pregnant, there are plenty of things that you can still enjoy doing that you would be able to do if you weren’t pregnant; however there are certain things which you should be wary of doing and certain foods to avoid when pregnant. Some of the foods to avoid whilst pregnant are usually perfectly safe to eat, but may carry certain risks to your unborn child if they are consumed whilst you are pregnant. Below is a list of some of the main foods to avoid whilst pregnant. This list is not comprehensive, as different schools of medical ... Read more

Whilst you are pregnant, it can be hard to stick to your normal exercise routine, because of the different stresses and strains which are being placed on your body during pregnancy. However, it is still important that you try to do some recommended forms of exercise whilst you are pregnant, for your own benefit and to help to promote your baby’s health. Prenatal yoga is one form of exercise which is very popular amongst pregnant women. Prenatal yoga offers a range of possible health benefits, and there are thousands of professionally run classes worldwide where you can go to practice ... Read more